Plant diversity, form, and function

Question 1

What are the major groupings of plants?

Answer 1

Bryophytes (nonvascular) and vascular plants

Question 2

bryophytes

Answer 2

nonvascular plants, no xylem and phloem, small, lack roots and leaves, do not make flowers, pollen, or seeds

Question 3

Seedless vascular plants

Answer 3

Have vascular tissue (xylem and phloem), some have secondary growth (become trees like ferns), the do not make flowers, seeds, or pollen and reproduce with spores

Question 4

Seed plants

Answer 4

Gymnosperms and angiosperms, make pollen and seeds for reproduction

Question 5

Gymnosperm

Answer 5

“Naked seed” - include conifers (pine trees, junipers) and gnetophytes

Question 6

Angiosperms

Answer 6

Flowering plants, monocots and eudicots

Question 7

Monocot

Answer 7

Grasses, orchids, wheat, corn, etc.
Have single cotyledon when they sprout and vascular tissue is typically parallel in leaves

Question 8

Eudicot

Answer 8

Most trees, roses, sunflowers (flowers made of smaller flowers), etc
Have two cotyledons when they sprout and vascular tissue is typically branching patterns in leaves

Question 9

Evergreens

Answer 9

Keep leaves all year long (conifers, ferns, and tropical trees)

Question 10

Deciduous

Answer 10

Shed leaves seasonally, depending on climate, (many temperate broad trees ex. Aspens)

Question 11

What 4 things do most plants have?

Answer 11

Roots, shoots, leaves, vascular system

Question 12

Why are different parts of the plant different shapes/ sizes?

Answer 12

To maximize efficiency
—> SHAPE MATTERS

Question 13

Function of roots

Answer 13

Anchor plants, absorb nutrients, store energy

Question 14

Root system

Answer 14

Taproot (central root that grows downward) and
lateral roots (grow off taproot/ forms taproot system)

Question 15

Fibrous Roots

Answer 15

Where no one root is prominent (think clump of grass roots)
More common in monocots

Question 16

Exceptions to “roots grow down into soil”

Answer 16

Floating plants (grow into water), Parasitic plants (grow into other plants), some wetland plants (can grow above ground to absorb Oxygen)

Question 17

Phenotypic plasticity

Answer 17

They can respond to changing or different environments (less shallow roots in high water vs. more shallow roots in low water b/c competition)

Question 18

Adventitious roots

Answer 18

Anchor stems to other plants or structures like walls (ex. vines)

Question 19

Modified roots

Answer 19

Prop roots, aerial roots, pneumatophores (part of roots grow up into air to absorb oxygen), taproots modified into storage organs (carrots and beets)

Question 20

How do some plants reproduce through their roots?

Answer 20

Asexually, producing a bunch of clones through root system